Anger is an emotion we should all make an effort to quell for the sake of our hearts, says Thomas Pickering, M.D., D.Phil., of New York City’s Cornell Medical Center.
“We ask people to keep diaries, and we can see that on days when they are particularly angry, their blood pressure goes up,” says Pickering, who heads the Cornell Work Site Blood Pressure Study.
“While many people don’t feel angry enough often enough during the day for it to have an impact on their health, for some, an outburst of anger can tip them over the edge.”
Not everyone is able to alter a job situation. But everyone can and should take the time to have lunch with a friend to talk out an anger-provoking situation.
Other techniques to manage anger include excusing yourself from volatile predicaments, saying, “I’ll get back to you on that” or, when pressed for an answer you know will create more anger, learning to say, “I need some time to think about this.” Of course, there’s always that old standby; counting to 10.
According to Susan Everson, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, cynical distrust I s the “toxic component” of anger. Everson studied more than 2,000 Finnish men, asking whether they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “No one really cares as much about what happens to you” and “I think most people would like to get ahead.”
She found that those who turned out to be the most cynical were also likely to have unhealthy lifestyles. They smoked more, drank more, and exercised less.
What can you do to get over this type of negative behavior? Wise advice comes from Redford Williams, M.D., of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who uncovered the link between heart disease and the hostility and anger of Type A behavior.
When you find yourself in a situation that triggers hostility and anger, Williams suggests that you ask yourself whether the situation is important enough to be worth continuing you attention, whether your reaction is appropriate to the situation, and whether you can change the situation. Most times, he notes, the answer to all three questions will be no. So find alternative responses, and back off.
Adapted from New Choices article by Rita Watson, Copyright 2007 Watson